


Surprise

by FruHallbera



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 18:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17565833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FruHallbera/pseuds/FruHallbera
Summary: Hux thinks he's clever. Kylo imagines the worst. It all ends in fluff.Original, less polished version was posted on Twitter.





	Surprise

The black rectangle of Hux’s phone on the kitchen counter taunted Kylo with its mere existence. He glared at the offending object over the rim of his coffee cup. The little flashing light told Kylo that the phone held at least one unread message waiting for Hux. He shouldn’t. He _couldn’t,_ even if he mustered up the courage to, he didn’t know how to unlock the device. He growled his frustration and gulped down his coffee, wincing at the hot liquid burning his tongue.

“Morning, love.”

Hux sounded half asleep as he padded into the kitchen and paused to peck a kiss on Kylo’s cheek. He continued on his quest for caffeine, rummaged for his favourite mug and let out a satisfied sigh at the first taste of the strong, black brew. Kylo leaned his hip against the kitchen counter, cradling the warm mug in his hand. He let his eyes linger on the curve of Hux’s spine, his narrow waist and the waistband of his pajama bottom riding dangerously low on his hips. Hux didn’t react to Kylo plastering himself on his back and nosing at his neck until he had enough caffeine in his system to properly wake himself up. He turned around to capture Kylo’s lips in a coffee-flavoured kiss and grunted his approval when Kylo slid his hands underneath the soft flannel to cup his buttocks. Kylo prepared to yank Hux closer and lift him up on the counter, kneading the warm skin under his palms, arousal building up slowly but steadily until Hux’s phone chimed with arrival of yet another message. Hux pulled himself away to grab his phone, then leaned back in to read the message over Kylo’s shoulder. He chuckled, patted Kylo’s arm to signal he was no longer in the mood for intimacy and walked out of the kitchen with his coffee cup in one hand and tapping out an answering message with the other.

Kylo stood where Hux had left him, skin prickling with rejection and fighting his urge to throw his mug against the wall. Instead he poured the remaining coffee down the drain and slammed the mug into the sink with unnecessary force. He marched into the bathroom to shower and shave and felt the worst of his anger dissipate with the hot water cascading down his back. It was just that this had been happening a lot lately. A couple of weeks ago they’d have run a serious risk of being late for work, nowadays Hux seemed to keep his hands more on his phone than on Kylo.

He finished his ablutions and made his way to their bedroom to find Hux sitting cross-legged on the bed, smiling absently and still engrossed with his phone.

“Bathroom’s free.”

“Mmh.”

Kylo frowned, shook his head and decided to face the horror that was his sock drawer head on.

“Are we still on for that movie?”

“Huh?”

“The movie. You wanted to, and I quote, ‘be properly wooed with a movie and a dinner before letting me plow you until you screamed.’”

“Oh.” Hux raised his gaze from the screen and grimaced. “Sorry, babe. I completely forgot. I’ll be working late today.”

The second rejection of the day stung just as much as the first one. Kylo hid his disappointment in the folds of his button-up, then focused all his attention on selecting a tie. He hadn’t noticed Hux sneaking up behind him and jerked when Hux’s lips suddenly pressed against his neck.

“I’m still quite amenable for being pounded into the mattress later this evening.”

“Good. Okay.”

Hux nudged Kylo until he turned around and tutted at the wonky knot of his tie. He untangled the mess, re-tied it with a flourish and then used it to pull Kylo in for a kiss.

“I’d better go get that shower.” Hux gave Kylo a one last lingering kiss before extracting himself and disappearing into the bathroom.

Confused and slightly angry, Kylo left for work before Hux returned from his shower.

***

Work, thankfully, kept Kylo busy enough to keep his worries out of his mind. He only texted Hux when he was leaving the office, letting him know that he’d take care of their weekly shopping. Hux’s reminder of restocking on cat food left Kylo vaguely irritated, as if he was still waiting for Hux to apologize for standing him up.

The apartment was dark and empty when Kylo got in, arms straining from the weight of two full bags of groceries. The fat ginger cat who had graciously allowed Kylo to move in with her and Hux trotted out to greet him, chirping her displeasure at having to wait for her bowl to be filled.

“Millie. _Millie!”_ Kylo avoided falling over the cat only by chance. “Get out of my way. You’ll get your food soon enough.”

He heaved the bags on the kitchen counter, turned on the lights and set about refilling the fridge and feeding the starving cat. Hux’s latest text message had stated that he’d be wrapping up his work in about half an hour, so if Kylo started cooking dinner now it should be ready by the time Hux finished his 40-minute commute.

Two hours later Kylo was staring glumly at the untouched plate and glass on the opposite side of the table. He had forced himself to eat despite having no appetite after a short ‘ _Gonna be late, babe, don’t wait up!_ ’ from Hux. He considered a trip to the gym but abandoned the idea. There was nothing worth watching on TV, he couldn’t concentrate on the book he was reading, so he ended up pacing restlessly until he gave in and donned his running gear.

He had gone around the nearby park twice before he felt his mind beginning to clear.

Theirs had been a whirlwind romance, full of passion and love and mind-blowing arguments followed by equally mind-blowing sex. That kind of fire would burn out quickly, it simply wasn’t possible to maintain a relationship on such an intense level. Still, Kylo had thought Hux was the one who would stay. That the glorious redhead who had quite literally fallen into his arms due to a serendipitous combination of sudden decline in temperature and a deceptively icy pavement would be the fabled one true love of countless songs and stories. Even for someone as flawed and imperfect as Kylo Ren.

It was just-

The evidence was there if you knew where to look, and Kylo did, by god he did. This wasn’t the first time his partner had strayed.

Kylo ran and ran, his heart breaking little more with each step he took. Sweat ran down is back and his muscles ached but he headed home only when breathing became painful. Their home was still empty when Kylo stumbled in, discarding his sweaty clothes on his way to the kitchen for a drink and then to the shower.

Hux came home when Kylo had already fallen asleep. He crawled under the blanket and arranged himself as the smaller spoon, jolting Kylo awake. Kylo might have been willing to accept his excuse of a project deadline if he hadn’t smelled the alcohol in Hux’s breath.

***

Two weeks.

Two weeks of excruciating agony, of listening to the relentless chiming of Hux’s phone, of lonely evenings waiting for Hux to come home, of hating himself for checking Hux’s body for scratches, bite marks, anything to confirm his suspicions.

He was easily given to jealousy and anger and that had played a major part in the ruin of his previous relationships. With Hux he had worked on it, not wanting to risk the best thing that had ever happened to him with his turbulent moods. Kylo knew he should walk away. It’d be easier to end this now, before he hurt himself any further or hurt Hux when he couldn’t contain himself anymore. The right thing to do would be to confront Hux, ask him face to face but hearing the words from Hux’s lips would shatter him beyond repair. So he suffered and cursed his mind for every horrible image of Hux in his lover’s embrace it conjured up.

He both clung to Hux and pushed him away. He couldn’t get enough of the feeling of Hux’s skin against his but came up with an excuse after another to turn down sex. The end of their affair drew closer by each passing day and it was tearing him apart. Kylo began to spend even more time running or at the gym. He wasn’t easily scared, but the thought of sitting alone in their empty home shook him to the core.

When Hux suggested a date night Kylo almost crumbled.  

***

_‘Hey babe, I’m running late. Come pick me up from the office.’_

Kylo held his phone in the other and his best sweater in the other. Hux hadn’t said what he had planned for their night out, so Kylo had some trouble deciding what to wear. The knots in his stomach refused to budge. There was an ice-cold certainty in the back of his mind that Hux was breaking up with him, he’d simply chosen a public venue so that when Kylo would have his inevitable meltdown the property damage would not include anything irreplaceable.

Kylo had gotten better at controlling his emotions but the prospect of Hux leaving him made his chest constrict to the point that black dots appeared in his vision.

The taxi seemed to take forever to get to the office building. Kylo bit his lip at every red light, willed his leg to stop bouncing and kept checking his phone every thirty seconds. He bolted from the taxi as soon as he had paid, ran across the street and into the building. The elevator was just as slow as the taxi although it provided just enough space for Kylo to vent his nervousness by pacing in a small circle. Kylo squeezed his phone in his hand in an attempt to distract himself with the hard edges pressing against his palm.

Down the corridor, around the corner, towards Hux’s working space. Towards his doom. Tears were stinging Kylo’s eyes, unbidden and unwelcome, his heart pounding its way out of his ribcage.

“Babe! In here!” Hux was peeking out of a dark room, waving his hand at Kylo. Kylo turned around and followed Hux into the room. Then-

Lights, bright lights turned on suddenly, accompanied by a cacophony on the theme of “Surprise!”

Kylo turned slowly around, taking in the expectant, cheerful faces of their friends, the abundance of food and drink, the suitably poor attempt at party decorations. His knees felt like buckling at the sight of Hux’s self-satisfied smile, and then he was storming out of the door and watching how his phone flew through the air and shattered against the opposite wall. His feet carried him to the elevator, but it wasn’t at his floor and Kylo couldn’t stand to wait for it. He pushed the stairwell door open and was only vaguely aware of Hux’s voice calling him as he started down the stairs.

He had descended only a few floors before halting. He sat down heavily on the step and buried his face in his hands.

Fuck.

Fuck fuckety fuck.

The rush of relief mixed with hot embarrassment coursed through his veins. Instinctively he put his hand into his pocket to dig out his phone so that he could call Hux, balling it into a fist as he remembered that it lay broken in pieces outside the conference room. If Hux had followed him he’d have taken the elevator and would be looking for him outside. He could return upstairs but without Hux it’d be too awkward.

His hands returned to cover his face. Of all the ways he could screw things up this was one top notch performance. Stupid Kylo. And stupid _Hux_ , who would do this to their partner and not expect them to become suspicious?

“Babe? Kylo, are you all right?”

Kylo heard Hux’s footsteps echoing in the stairwell before his voice bounced off the walls and reached Kylo. He shifted slightly to allow Hux to settle down next to him, out of breath and a worried look on his face. “Kylo?”

Kylo wrapped an arm around Hux’s shoulders and pulled him close. He kissed Hux’s temple and buried his nose in his hair. “Fuck you, Hux.”

“I’m sorry?”

“That was- I did- “ The words refused to form in his mouth. “I didn’t know it was a party,” he finished lamely.

Hux twisted enough to look Kylo in the eyes. “That usually is the idea of a surprise party.”

Kylo averted his gaze. Hux brushed his fingers over his cheek, took a gentle hold of his chin and tilted his face back to him. “What happened? I thought that you would like it. At least that’s what I thought you meant when you said that you’ve never had a surprise party.”

 “Oh. Yeah. I did. I do. Its just that-“ He had to say it, or at the very least mumble it in Hux’s shoulder. He didn’t want to keep any secrets from the man he loved. “I thought you were seeing someone else.”

“I- what?”

He could hear it in Hux’s voice. The growing ire. The inevitable disappointment in Kylo and his constant failures to act like a grown man. He braced himself for the dressing down.

It never came. Instead, Kylo found himself kissed with such passion his eyes watered. Hux pulled back only when he needed to breathe.

“You idiot. You utter, _utter_ idiot. Of course I wouldn’t cheat on you! Why would you even think that?”

Kylo kept their foreheads pressed together. He tangled the fingers of his left hand in Hux’s hair, held fast lest this moment would prove to be an illusion. The past days weighed heavily on his shoulders. The doubt and anger and jealousy felt like an icy lump inside him. But that was a too serious conversation to be had in an office building stairwell. Kylo went for a diversion instead and mashed their mouths together.

“I guess I’m not very good with surprises,” he said in a way of explanation when he too had to eventually come up for air. An unfamiliar expression flickered across Hux’s face, and Kylo thought he saw him pocketing a small, black box. He stood up and offered Kylo his hand.

“Well, since the party is no longer a surprise, how about we go and see if there’s anything left to eat.”

Kylo grinned, got up and pushed Hux against the wall.

“I’m sure I can find something that I like to put in my mouth.”


End file.
